Listening to an argument the other day about ‘Nature versus Nurture’, got me thinking about our lives as sons of God in a dark and depraved world. Many believe ‘Nurture’ trumps ‘Nature’ every time. Why? Because it is believed that ‘Nurture’ carries within it love. However, we have seen some anomalies with these results. In the sense that many persons that were ‘nurtured’ still grew up with narcissistic, wicked behaviours, devoid of love and the attributes of love. What this shows, over and over again is that we cannot receive or give love if it is not centred on God!
When we bring this back home, many in the Body lack the warmth of love; thus, they cannot receive nor can they give it. Many congregations are devoid of the attributes of love. They may belong to the same fold, yet they have no love for each other! Many claim to be Born Again by accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord. Yet they are devoid of love for others but themselves (1 John 4:7-12).
The nature of God is Love. In fact, He is LOVE Personified! It is out of this Love that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to come to the earth and die for all mankind! If we then believe He loves us, we ought to love Him and love each other. The Bible tells us: “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him” (1 John 4:16, HCSB). Jesus Christ is the expression of the love of God for mankind, the very image of the Invisible God: “[But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]. He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:2-3, AMPC).
If we believe the foregoing Scripture, then we must agree that anytime God mentions Love, He is talking about Himself, Jesus Christ. In light of this, let us look at 1 Corinthians 13!
“If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have Jesus, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have Jesus, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have Jesus, I gain nothing. Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Jesus finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Jesus never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for languages, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end…Now these three remain: faith, hope, and Jesus. But the greatest of these is Jesus” (1Corinthians 13:1-8,13, HCSB).
Do you truly have Him? Is what you profess to be ‘love’ truly Him? It is not enough to mouth that you have Him! The reason it is nearly impossible for many to walk in the attributes of Him is because they are not in UNION with Him. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Beloved, for there to be FRUIT, there must be a JOINING, without which nothing can be produced! This LOVE comes into our lives when we join and cleave to Him as our vital necessity! This means, we have to be disjoined from the things of the flesh, to join with Him; only then can the fruit of Love and the others become manifest in our lives: “And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires” (Galatians 5:24), and “Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me” (John 15:4, AMPC).
Beloved, God bless you as you look into the perfect mirror of God and adjust accordingly. Please, do not put this off, as His return is imminent to give to everyone as his/her works deserve (Revelation 22:12)! May He grant us the grace to be vitally joined to Him, in Jesus Christ name, Amen!
